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Sticky problem

27 June 1998

THE discovery of a gene that helps malaria wreak havoc could lead to more
effective treatments for the disease.

The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum makes a protein called
PfEMP1 which turns red blood cells unusually sticky. They bind to blood vessel
walls, a process called cytoadherence, and block small vessels. But because the
parasite has over 50 different genes that code for versions of the PfEMP1
protein, it seemed impossible to block its production.

Now Donald Gardiner and his colleagues at the Menzies School of Health
Research in Darwin, Australia, have found a single gene which seems to work with
PfEMP1. When this gene was switched off, cytoadherence ceased.

The gene has been named clag (cytoadherence-linked asexual gene).
The team has submitted its findings to Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences.